Every Stephen King Reference and Easter Egg in Castle Rock

The new Hulu series Castle Rock doesn’t adapt any single Stephen King story directly, but instead takes place in a world of interconnected short stories and novels set within the author’s favorite creepy Maine town. As such, each episode is loaded with references to many of the King characters, books, and films that you know and love. We’re here to break all of them down, episode by episode.

Episode 1, “Severance”

Shawshank Penitentiary

In one of the most significant King references woven throughout Castle Rock, much of the season’s action takes place at Shawshank Penitentiary. The legendary facility first appeared in King’s short story “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” and later, famously, onscreen in Frank Darabont’s 1994 film adaptation starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

Alan Pangborn

Photo: Seacia Pavao/Hulu

A former Castle Rock sheriff, Pangborn has appeared in the Kingverse quite a few times, playing major roles in The Dark Half, Needful Things, and the short story “The Sun Dog,” and he’s been referenced in several other works. He’s a King legend of sorts, played by Ed Harris and Michael Rooker in previous films, and now played by Scott Glenn in the Hulu series.

Leanne Chambers

Photo: Patrick Harbron/Hulu

When we first meet Henry Deavers (Andre Holland), he’s down in Texas trying to get a woman named Leanne Chambers (Phyllis Somerville) off death row. She isn’t a King character directly, but her name should ring several bells: It’s the same surname as Chris Chambers from “The Body” (a.k.a. Stand by Me) and the legendary Jake Chambers of The Dark Tower fame.

Warden Norton

Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images

When the new Shawshank warden T. Porter (Ann Cusack) is getting her tour of the prison, you can hear someone say, “You can still see the bullet hole where Warden Norton …” before getting cut off. Of course, fans of The Shawshank Redemption will remember that the villain of that film put a bullet in his own head after Andy Dufresne escaped and tipped off police about the warden’s crimes.

Bill Skarsgård

Photo: Patrick Harbron/Hulu

Is it really a coincidence that Castle Rock cast the man who played Pennywise the Clown in last year’s It? Even if so, as the creepy kid found in the water tank at Shawshank, Skarsgård’s presence adds another layer of menace to the show because of the monster we’ve already seen him play.

Sissy Spacek and other King veterans

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Skarsgård isn’t the only performer on Castle Rock to appear in previous King works. Melanie Lynskey was in Rose Red, Frances Conroy was in the recent TV version of The Mist, and, of course, Sissy Spacek was in a little movie called Carrie.

The Green Mile

Photo: Warner Bros.

Although King’s 1996 novel didn’t take place in Shawshank, Castle Rock sneaks in a reference when the Kid watches a mouse scurry across the prison floor. In The Green Mile book (and Darabont’s 1999 film starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan), a prisoner uses his supernatural powers to revive another prisoner’s pet mouse. Perhaps a sign of the darkness to come, the critter in Castle Rock suffers a much worse fate.

That King style

This isn’t a direct reference, but the plot of the premiere episode is classic Stephen King in several familiar ways: past sins coming to the surface, childhood trauma driving the plot, and a possibly supernatural evil about to overtake the God-fearing people of a quaint New England town.

Episode 2, “Habeas Corpus”

The opening credits

Photo: Hulu

The opening-credits sequence is loaded with visual nods to King, including a torn chapter page for The Green Mile and snippets from other King classics, including Misery, It, and The Shining.

“Remember the dog? The strangler?”

Warden Lacy’s narration is packed with King references. “The dog” is obviously referring to Cujo, and “the stranger” nods to the one-and-only Frank Dodd of The Dead Zone fame.

“It was the fall after they found that boy’s body out by the train tracks.”

As Lacy recounts the story of a high-school mascot who killed himself, he also references the plot of King’s short story “The Body,” which was adapted into the 1986 hit film Stand by Me.

Castle Rock’s past tragedies

Photo: Hulu

Lacy then explains how his house — every house in Castle Rock, actually — is “stained with someone’s sin.” We see a suicide in a tub with bloody water streaming down the stairs, recalling similar imagery from The Shining. We also see a woman killing a man by funneling carbon monoxide into their home as she sits in her car. It’s kind of a stretch, but carbon monoxide played a major role in King’s Christine. Both of these feel like tonal references to classic King works, if not direct ones.

Old newspaper clippings

Photo: Hulu

When Henry rifles through the newspaper articles in Lacy’s office, there are at least three that reference King works directly: “Shopkeeper Missing After Oddity Store Fire” (Needful Things), “Anonymous Tip Led to …” (Stand by Me), “Rabid Dog Tears Through Town” (Cujo).

Jackie Torrance

Photo: Seacia Pavao/Hulu

If the name Torrance doesn’t mean something to you, there’s a little movie called The Shining that you need to watch. Here’s the burning question of the moment: Is Jane Levy’s Jackie related to Danny? We don’t know yet, but it’s a possibility.

1488

The Nazi in the cell with the Kid has the numbers of the white-power movement tattooed on his face, but they also call to mind the great “1408,” a King short story turned into a 2007 film with Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack. Sure, this one may be accidental, but you should still read “1408.”

Pet Sematary

Photo: Patrick Harbron/Hulu

Alan Pangborn basically recounts the setup for King’s 1983 novel as he digs up a dead stray dog, which Ruth Deaver believes has come back to life.

The Mellow Tiger

The bar where Henry speaks to Jackie and passes the note to Shawshank prison guard Dennis Zalewski comes straight out of Needful Things, the 1991 novel that’s the biggest King reference point for the series so far.

Nan’s Luncheonette

The greasy spoon that turned into a “fuck club,” as Jackie told Henry, appears in several King stories including The Dark Half, Needful Things, “The Sun Dog,” and It.

The Ramones

Children of the Corn

The creepy mask-wearing kids from Timberland Motor Court sure bring to mind the terrifying creations of one of King’s most famous short stories, which was adapted into the 1984 horror movie.

Wonder Bread

Far from a direct reference, but the revelation that the Kid only eats Wonder Bread brings to mind one of King’s devilish creations, Raymond Andrew Joubert from Gerald’s Game. Joubert’s van included a sandwich on the front seat, as viscerally described by King in his 1992 novel: “The thing poking out from between the two slices of Wonder Bread was pretty clearly a human tongue.”

Episode 4, “The Box”

Vince Desjardins

Photo: Hulu

Henry Deaver’s investigation into his own disappearance brings up the name Vince Desjardins, who had a felony and lived near the spot where young Henry disappeared. The name should ring a couple bells. Vince himself was a part of Ace’s gang in “The Body,” and one could easily see him living in a dilapidated home on the edge of Castle Rock after the action of that short story or the Stand by Me adaptation. And, of course, Rita Desjardins was the name of Carrie’s P.E. teacher in Carrie. It’s never been fully clear if she’s related to Vince, but probably?

The Dodd House

While Molly shows the Lacy home to potential buyers, she tells them that a serial strangler died in her house (and she still sleeps like a baby!). It’s almost certainly another reference to Frank Dodd, the legendary strangler of The Dead Zone. Does Molly actually live in the Dodd House? No wonder she’s got so much psychic mojo.

Maple Street

Blink and you’ll miss the fact that Alan and Henry turn down Maple Street as they’re headed to Matthew Weaver’s relocated body. While it could just be a coincidental name, it’s likely a reference to “The House on Maple Street,” a short story from King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes.

The Grim Reaper graffiti

Photo: Hulu

There’s a bunch of graffiti in the Kid’s cell (what does “G.F.B.D.” mean?), but only one stands out as an obvious reference. One of King’s earliest short stories, “The Reaper’s Image” — originally published in 1969 in Startling Mystery Stories and later in the short-story collection Skeleton Crew — tells the tale of an antique mirror haunted by the image of the Grim Reaper.

Episode 5, “Harvest”

The Shining

While Jackie Torrance talks to The Kid about her past, she mentions that her uncle was a writer who tried to ax murder his whole family. Of course, that’s a nod to The Shining, but the writers of Castle Rock gild this particular Easter egg: She also reveals that her name is an homage to Jack Torrance. Her real name is Diane, but she changed it in her uncle’s memory.

Cujo & Pet Sematary

The dog that barks at Ruth, sending her to jump off the newly dubbed Pangborn Bridge, is bound to remind people of Cujo, although that was a Saint Bernard. Given the fact that Alan and Ruth have already wandered into the reanimated dead world of Pet Sematary, it’s more likely that she thought the barking dog was the one she already buried.

Juniper Hill

The asylum where The Kid may end up after being released from Shawshank is an even-more-consistent fixture in King’s stories. Juniper Hill has appeared in It, Needful Things, Bag of Bones, 11.22.63, The Dark Half, and many, many more.

Capt. Byron Hadley

In The Shawshank Redemption, the sadistic guard played by Clancy Brown had the surname Hadley. Castle Rock doesn’t reference him directly, but it sureloves nodding to familiar names: The cheesy video that The Kid watches as he prepares to be released ends with its host saying, “I’m Lou Hadley, who are you?”